Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Slap
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Headquarters.
The gray homeland of humans.
I mull over the word "headquarters" dozens of times, tossing and turning through the night. Sleep just won't come tonight.
Can I really go back?
No, before that...
Is going back even the right thing to do?
If I return, what happens to Jenny, Aria, Arachne, Nephyr... born here? Not to mention Alraune, living inside my body.
Some of them even carry my children in their bellies. Even if our relationships started with impure intentions, I don't have the heart to abandon them and our kids and run away.
If I leave forever like that, could I really forget everything? Dismiss all that's happened here as some nightmare, go back to headquarters, meet another human woman, and build a happy family?
"..."
It's a night full of swirling thoughts. I quietly rise from my suffocating, hopeless bed and slip out of the hideout.
Outside, Amy stands rigidly, ever vigilant without need for sleep. She'd listen silently to these feelings weighing on me. Right now, I need her.
"Dr."
She's thrilled to face me in this lonely, solitary dawn. Her cold, impassive face betrays a fleeting joy in her blue eyes.
"If you're heading out on business, I'll accompany you."
"It's not that."
I perch on a rock beside her and run a hand down my face. A futile gesture, hoping to shake off the nagging thoughts tormenting my heart and mind, but nothing changes.
The same scene stretches before my eyes. Rubbing my face or blinking won't alter this harsh reality. Of course not.
"Amy, if we really kill that moon... what should we do next?"
Amy stares at me, listening intently, unblinking. In that moment, I envy those beautiful eyes gazing silently.
"Going back would be best, right?"
"You're hesitating about returning to headquarters."
We lean against the wall side by side. Eerie, ghostly moonlight pours into the cave entrance, but even that chill doesn't interrupt our brief talk.
Amy gently places her hand on the back of mine. Warmth seeps in. My heart eases a little.
"...Do whatever you want, Dr."
It's miraculous.
It takes me back to our first meeting. Could I have ever imagined she'd offer advice like this, so mature?
"What if I don't even know what I want?"
"Then keep pondering until you figure it out. In my data, you always found answers that way. Don't give up. You just need a little more time."
I chuckle despite myself. Amy, dead serious, gives me exactly the comfort I need. Is she currying favor, or squeezing out her fledgling empathy?
"You're starting to seem almost human."
Thanks to her, I might sleep again.
The anxiety and unease fade...
Growing accustomed to this new routine makes the quiet days of my old human life—once my entire existence—feel so distant.
The lab days blur in memory. Just months ago, I yearned for that peace desperately. Now, I'm not so sure.
"Joo-ho, when are we going to the sea?"
Aria beams at me, her hands tugging me lightly toward the lake.
"We're going together! Now you can swim freely like me, so let's hold hands and head to the ocean..."
"Yeah, let's do that."
My immature gills and tail are healing bit by bit. The more time with Aria, the more her traits rub off on me.
*Mwah—*
Aria pulls back gracefully, squats outside the lake, and steals a kiss from my lips. Her soft, moist affection lingers briefly before dripping away.
"Shall we experiment?"
She tempts me, quietly parting the leaf-and-petal dress covering her breasts. Now, an undeniable seductiveness and allure emanate from her.
She's regaining her old self. The noble mermaid who smiled brightly, sang prettily, swam elegantly...
"Wondering if our love truly boosts your abilities? Let's test a bit more."
"Greedy girl. You've already drained me so much I can barely walk."
"Hehe..."
It's like seeing her innocent, pure days again. Her gestures and gaze tug at my heartstrings.
"Going to the sea?"
It's not just Aria evoking the past. Even facing Arachne, I feel that old chill.
"Ahh, after I built our house here so diligently, now you want to smash it and move? Fine, why?"
Her straight black nails tap the table anxiously. The clicking echoes through the web chamber.
"I need more amber."
"You've hoarded so much already, and you need more? Yeah... I get that."
She sips tea calmly with her other hand,
but it's the eerie silence before a storm.
"But I don't wanna."
Her arched left eyebrow and rigid tremor terrify me. Before Arachne, I'm always the sinner.
"With amber, we can live way more comfortably. Amy and I will make handy tools for you all—"
"Pfft, lies. Why lie to each other? You killed my mom, dad, sisters, knocked me up, scraped up other bitches for your harem, and there's more lies left? For real?"
*Hoo—*
A sigh escapes me unwittingly.
My head throbs. A headache that could split open and spill brains without surprise.
Even Alraune senses my dire stress, blooming soothing petals with a pleasant scent. But to Arachne, it's revolting and annoying.
*Crunch—*
"Last chance. Snap out of it and stay? I'm tolerating a lot already. Not skinning that mermaid or snake bitch and stringing 'em up in my webs shows insane patience, you know?"
Arachne's nails shred the petals. Alraune and I wince in shared pain but soon regain composure and continue.
"...But going to the sea together now seems best. The others all agree. Lots to do around there. Can't you compromise? Honestly, you don't have to stay here forever."
"No? I do. Why abandon my hard-built home and rebuild from scratch there? For your other bitches? Me? Why me? Why?"
Arachne chews her lips, baring hate and rage, then wells up tears of damp sorrow.
"If you wanna see me and the kid die, go ahead. I'm not going, so ditch us if you want. Yeah, go. I won't stop you. Hurry."
"..."
Deep breath.
Now she hurls the teacup far away,
caressing her belly, yelling. I clench my fists, trembling before her.
"Go, I said! Hey, go! Yeah, a bitch like me should die. Ahh, without me, life's easy for you, right? Honestly, wouldn't it profit you more if I and the kid just died? That's what you think. Right?"
Holding back grows harder.
Each mention of the child snaps something in my head.
"If you were gonna do this, you should've killed me with my sisters. Right? Oh, don't wanna dirty your hands? Should I just go hang myself now? Then Joo-ho becomes the mighty male who exterminated all spiders. Including our unborn kid!"
I try to endure,
but Arachne screams nonstop in my ear.
From her view, it's frustrating.
She once held the leash, leading. But with Amy and my growing allies, her leverage fades.
"Say it before it's too late, yeah? I'll hang myself right away. Ahh, if great Joo-ho asks, what can a bug like me do? Gotta die. Or you'll kill me quietly like my family anyway—"
"...Enough now. I'm really trying my best."
I know.
What I am to Arachne,
how I destroyed her kin...
"What? Enough? Who are you to tell me? Wanna die for real? Scared I'll actually do it, huh? Yeah, me and the kid right—"
"Arachne."
But I can't take it.
Pushed, stabbed, hit dozens of times, I hold one last time...
"I said stop."
"...Hah? Keep acting cocky. Call all your bitches. I'll rip my belly open in front of them!"
*Slap!*
In the end, I slap Arachne's cheek.